This trainer is full of character; the first post-WW2 Fokker design, it was ordered ‘off the drawing board’. Initial test flights, commencing in September, 1947, showed up a few snags, but once these were sorted this solid-looking initial trainer sold well to air forces around the world; it had a top speed of just over 125 mph and a range approaching 360 miles. Customers included the Israeli Air Force, the Dutch Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht) and Navy (Koninklijke Marine), and the Brazilian Air Force. The type was manufactured in Brazil, both as the S-11 and the more developed S-12 (these were designated T-21 and T22 by the Brazilian Air Force). The S-12 was subject to some major redesign by the Fokker subsidiary in Brazil, emerging with a tricycle undercarriage. This made the Instructor one of the few military designs with series production as both a tricycle and 'taildragger'. The Italian Air Force was also in need of an initial trainer post-war and the famous Macchi concern obtained a license to manufacture the aircraft as the Macchi M.416; it entered Italian service in 1951, and the production run totalled 180 machines. As with the indiginous Fiat G.46 advanced trainer,
the Macchi M.416 was 'released' to civilian aero-clubs in Italy when its service days were over. In the case of the M.416, this began in 1960.
Like its direct contemporary, the de Havilland Chipmunk, the instructor and pupil sat under a single, long, canopy, but in the case of the S.11 they sat side by side. Both of the trainers had fixed undercarriages, but the S-11 Instructor had the advantage of a ‘trailing link’, levered type, which really helps smooth out the ‘bumps’ in student landings, a characteristic it shares with the ERCO Ercoupe. Also seen in the above photograph are the external balances for the ailerons, and the pitot tube in leading edge of the wing. Hardly a speedster – it has a 190hp Avco Lycoming O-435A engine – it is still a fully aerobatic aircraft, and is very reliable. This fine example is in Royal Dutch Navy markings, and is seen sitting in the sun at the Great Vintage Flying Weekend event, Hullavington, in 2007.
Fokker were known for building eminently ‘sensible’ aircraft, and the S-11 is a typical example. The Fokker Instructor is a sturdy trainer, hardly as handsome as the Chipmunk, but just as delightful to own!
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